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This policy brief analyses institutional challenges faced by Guyana’s agricultural sector to promote diversification and development. Agricultural development in Guyana is strongly correlated with agricultural diversification, hence diversification strategies can be used to promote growth in this sector. The identified challenges in the analysis that currently hamper diversification and trade of Guyana’s agricultural products include high tariff and non-tariff barriers, low level of direct investment, and a lack of physical infrastructure. Furthermore, missing quality and quantity capacities of farmers as well as the lack of a working sanitary and phytosanitary regime hinders intra-regional trade and import substitution. It is recommended [...]

The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the current state of financial inclusion of the rural youth in Uganda, with a specific focus on their engagement in the agricultural sector and the financial services that are available to them to pursue their business ventures in this area. The study seeks to illustrate and bring to light the core constraints and opportunities associated with the provision of tailored financial services to young agricultural entrepreneurs in the country, while showcasing the essential role that key support actors (such as the Government, Central Bank, international development institutions, NGOs, foundations [...]

Structural transformation involves the reallocation of resources from less to more productive uses. It involves growth in agricultural productivity and generation of higher productivity jobs in other sectors. In addition, in the longer-term, it can support poverty reduction. However, the transition process and its outcomes are frequently challenging – especially among the poor and vulnerable people and households, given the economic and social forces that pressure them to adapt to realities faster than they are able to. The objective of the paper is to show how social protection policies and programmes can contribute to structural transformation, smoothen the transition for the [...]

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), together with the World Bank, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), have developed the Livestock Sector Investment and Policy Toolkit (LSIPT) toolkit to support teams and decision-makers to increase and improve policies and livestock investments that contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The toolkit enables a shift from the traditional approach centred on livestock production to one that focuses on households and human well-being with the goal of poverty reduction.

As a result of the Government of Uganda’s forward thinking policies to create a commercial forestry sector in the early 2000’s, it is 20 years ahead of its neighbors in terms of the sector’s development. It now must implement policies to sustain to the sector, and enable it to help meet the rapidly growing demand for timber and other wood products in the region, and beyond.  This depends fundamentally on enabling producers and processors to easily access to external timber markets.  

This technical paper aims to provide a review of the main demand- and supply-side constraints linked to women’s access to rural and agricultural finance, to then present the key strategies which can be adopted to address these challenges, while displaying examples of good practices and providing core policy recommendations to promote women’s financial inclusion

The document presents a description of the structure of the rural environment, demography, the supply of goods and services, the main inequalities, levels of poverty, importance and role of family agriculture and other economic activities (diversification), the main features of rural society and the presence of the private sector. It will also discuss trends in migration and other social or economic processes relevant to the description of the rural situation. The text will also discuss the importance of rural development in achieving the SDGs by identifying the current situation and the extent of change required to meet the SDGs.  

Links to the publications, papers and articles on Foreign Direct Investment and Responsible Agricultural Investment.

Promoting higher involvement of women and youth in agricultural investment in Ghana. Two workshops organized in Ghana by the Economic and Social Development's Trade and Market Group shows that women and youth were seldom involved in the formulation, design or implementation of investments in agriculture and did not benefit from them. 

In October 2019, the IsDB and FAO Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa partnered to deliver the first Regional Workshop on Climate-Smart Agriculture in the NENA region. The IsDB now aims to ensure that all their offices are aware of CSA and are able to make investments that meaningfully take CSA and its principles into account. In so doing, they aim to enhance the capacity of the agricultural systems to support food security, incorporating the need for adaptation and the potential for mitigation into sustainable agriculture development strategies. FAO is proud to bring the four-day training on [...]